Satya Pal Malik says position of Guv weak, can't speak his heart out

Katra: Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik has said that the position of a governor was "weak" and does not have the "authority" to hold press conferences or speak his heart out.

"The position of a governor is weak. This poor thing does not have the authority to hold press conferences or speak our heart out. For three days, I remained anxious wondering that whether my comments have not annoyed anyone in Delhi," he said in a light-hearted manner while addressing the convocation ceremony of Mata Vaishno Devi University here on Tuesday.

He accused intelligence agencies of not "telling the truth" to both the central government and the Jammu and Kashmir administration.

"After coming here, I didn't take input from intelligence units. They don't tell truth to Delhi or us. I spoke to 150-200 students and asked which students stand up for the national anthem. They said the whole problem is of people between 13 to 30 years whose dreams have been broken and who have been misled and incited," Malik said.

"They (students) said we don't want Hurriyat, mainstream parties, Delhi government or autonomy. I was also told that the way to 'jannat' (paradise) is by getting killed," he added.

The Governor said that mainstream leaders of Jammu and Kashmir have pushed the youth of the Valley down the path of terrorism towards their death while they have kept their own children away from all the menace.

On August 5, the Centre had scrapped Article 370 that granted special powers to Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the region into two Union Territories (UTs) -- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Following this, several mainstream leaders were detained and kept under house arrest.

The new UTs will come into being on October 31.